Many Thanks To: Hakusen, Kaneda-Shotaro and Yami Tetsuo, crazykiwi, Black Flame Dragon, Hana, Kitt Sseh, Echo17, Devilkid, OxBeachFlirtxO1, AngelicMouseGirl, Ocean, KittyKatu, darkpoetrystar, Lady Geuna, Renee the Rabid Squirrel, Scarabsi, alostblackcat, random reader, and Lily. Reviews make the world go ‘round!

And I’m very sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out, but it is a very pivotal part of the story, and I wanted it to come out just right, since I am very much a perfectionist. Unfortunately, I don’t think it does come out right, exactly, but I thought that I had made you wait long enough. It seems this is one of my most popular stories. *grin* Thanks, everyone.

Broken Shards of Pottery
Chapter Two: Random Variable

The door was mocking him.

Malik scowled and shifted more of his weight to lean against the wall behind him, attempting a casual pose as he silently willed the offensive object to move, damnit! The door, however, did no such thing; it rather enjoyed thwarting a pissed off schizophrenic, and so stayed stubbornly closed. The blond’s scowl grew deeper. He was thoroughly displeased with how events had turned out so far.

However careful Malik had been during the procedure, something had still gone wrong. He hadn’t counted on the potion somehow being affected by the sheer amount of junk food the blond pup had been stuffing his face with. He hadn’t counted on the boy to suddenly become violently ill and flee to the bathroom. He hadn’t counted on the least likely thing of all-- for Seto Kaiba to unknowingly enter that very same bathroom not five minutes later.

Once again, that god-forsaken High Priest had proved how adept he was at getting into mischief that didn’t involve him.

And the damned door still wouldn’t budge. It had been another three minutes already; surely the worst had come to pass by now. Or, perhaps, the Priest was finding some place to hide the mutilated body. Kaiba would surely be displeased at having the blond fawn over him like the puppy he was so often accused of being.

Malik nearly jumped out of his skin when someone pushed open the bathroom door and rushed past him without a second glance, looking both flushed and chagrined. Jounouchi.

The door did not swing open a second time. Malik glanced from it to the retreating form of the blond, then back again, half-formulated questions and answers whirling in his mind at this strange and unexpected new development. After a moment, his lips twitched into a smirk.

Perhaps he would get something he wanted out of this yet.

**********

Jounouchi sucked in a quick breath. “Kaiba.” He spat, narrowing his eyes. Why did the rich bastard always have to find him at his most inopportune moments? It seemed that Fortune liked to spit in his face whenever circumstances came to this particular person. The blond clenched his fists, but fought not to actually take a swing at the brunette. Yuugi would kill him it he started a fight now. Plus, he had promised Shizuka. “You--” He swallowed as Kaiba took a step closer, and suddenly felt hotter.

Being sick and confronting Seto Kaiba; two things very low on his list of favorite hobbies.

Kaiba’s smirk grew. “What’s the matter pup, cat got your tongue? I suppose it‘s only fitting.”

Jounouchi sputtered indignantly and took a step forward, fighting to keep bile from rising into his mouth. “Why, you--!”

Blue eyes watched coolly as the blonde swayed, overtaken by sudden dizziness. Feeling superior next to this clown was so easy. “Feeling ill, I take it? Perhaps the vet has an opening.”

“Damn you...”

Seto sniffed disgustedly at the less-than-intelligent banter, but didn’t so much as twitch when the blond stumbled forward another step and reached out blindly, latching on to the billionaire’s trench-coat and using the hold to haul himself upward. Sneering, the blue-eyed teen lifted his arms to shove the mongrel violently away-- and felt something warm and slightly moist brush against his lips.

**********

Okay, this was nice, Jounouchi thought dazedly. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but he had blacked out for a second after that dizzy spell, and now all the sickness seemed to have disappeared. Now he just felt sort of light and... fuzzy. He smiled slightly. Much better.

Wait, what was he supposed to be doing...? Right. Fighting with Kaiba.

Um... Kaiba? Jounouchi paused. Something wasn’t right here. Why did he feel cloth underneath his fingers? And why was someone breathing so close to his ear? Hesitantly, the blond cracked one eye open-- and found himself staring straight into a furious blue one opposite his own.

“Shit!” The blond backpedaled at the same moment Kaiba pushed him away, and Jounouchi’s back slammed hard into the wall, his body sliding down the tiled surface as his legs gave out from underneath him.

He watched Kaiba take a violent step backward, then turn and spit derisively into the sink, and realized that he could still taste the brunette-- a slightly spicy mint, as if Kaiba has just brushed his teeth. Jounouchi gagged convulsively and averted his eyes, feeling the cold, blue tile numbing his fingertips, and found that, despite the circumstances, he no longer felt the slightest bit ill.

Swallowing, he glanced quickly at the blue-eyed boy, found his gaze lingered longer on the lithe other than was absolutely healthy, and pushed himself quickly up off of the floor. He was out the door before he even realized he had moved.

Kaiba was silent.

**********

“Yug’!”

Yami no Yugi, often referred to as the ‘Nameless Pharaoh’, felt his uneasiness escalate as his best friend and fellow duelist rushed towards him, face flushed and hands fisted so hard that they were turning white. “Jounouchi-kun?”

“Yug‘, we gotta go.” The blond said, voice low but vehement. Jounouchi swallowed roughly, and Yami thought that it looked like his friend was resisting the urge to turn around and glance behind him. Crimson eyes darted to glance over Jounouchi’s shoulder, and narrowed as he saw Seto Kaiba step oh-so-casually out of the nearest men’s bathroom.

“Jounouchi-kun, what’s going--”

“Now!” The blonde interrupted, reaching out and grasping his arm with a hand so cold that Yami winced. Inside him, Yugi was clambering, desperate to know what was wrong with his best friend. Yami shushed him for the moment and allowed himself to be dragged away and out of the hotel by Jounouchi, all the while imagining that he felt ice-blue eyes trained on his back.

Hidden in a corner, another pair of eyes, these ones a deep violet, also followed the two duelists as they walked out of the door. They lowered when the tall plant next to him rustled almost imperceptibly. “Yes?”

Chocolate eyes stared calculatingly at him. “So it is you.”

“Were you expecting someone else, Yami no Bakura?”

“Not exactly. I just like to keep informed when someone is screwing around with my playthings.”

“That is none of your concern, Bakura.” Half-lidded purple eyes glanced at the lighter boy out of the corner of the Egyptian’s eye.

“Maybe not.” The flash of canine-like fangs in a feral grin. “But I don’t appreciate it when others infringe on my territory, O Thief of Hearts.”

The blonde’s eye widened slightly. “How do you know of the spell, Tomb Robber?”

“It’s creator was one of the Ninety-Nine.[1] I would be careful where you tread, Guardian. You may be getting more than you bargained for.”

Malik watched, lips pursed, as the silver-haired youth turned and slipped silently away.

**********

Anzu Masaki stepped out of the dealer’s room, new Duel Monsters cards safely inserted into her deck, and blinked as she thought she spotted Yugi and Jounouchi walk out the door. Slowly, glancing from the door to the corner where she’d last seen them (now empty), and back again, Anzu took a tentative step forward and towards the main entrance. They wouldn’t have just left her there without a word, would they?

The puzzled frown on her face fell as a pair of dark boots stopped to her left, and she glanced over, eyes widening a bit when she realized just who exactly stood next to her. “Kaiba?”

“Where’s that damn excuse for a flea-bitten mongrel, Masaki?” The ice in his voice froze Anzu on the spot, and she flinched. Something was up, and it had to do with Jounouchi. Again.

“Uh...”

“Answer the question, before I get angry.”

Before he gets angry? Then what is he now? “I think he just left with Yugi.” She offered, watching as Kaiba turned and stormed out of the building, like a storm reaching its boiling point.

**********

“He’s gonna kill me.” Jounouchi told his mirror bluntly. The reflection was silent. “...Aw, what’m I saying, I should kill me!” He groaned as he sat down heavily, turning pink. “I can’t believe I... I...”

He couldn’t think clearly. His mind was fuzzy, and the past few hours were slightly blurry in his mind. “I didn’t mean to do it, of course.” He reasoned. “I must have tripped and fell. On his... No! Don’t go, there Jounouchi,” He shook his head frantically, but it only made him dizzier.

“Okay, that’s it. I was sick, I did something stupid, and that’s that. I can forget the whole thing happened, because I know he won’t say anything about it.” The blonde couldn’t even say Kaiba’s name out loud. “I’ll go to sleep, and tomorrow it’ll be like nothing happened.” He grinned, a bit weakly, but a smile nonetheless.

He was not sure exactly what had happened today-- he was quite sure he didn’t want to know what had happened-- but no one knew about it but him. And, well-- him. Yugi hadn’t pressed the blonde when he had left the Game Shop, and Jounouchi hadn’t wanted to talk, so not even his best buddy knew. So he could pretend like nothing had happened. Perhaps he’d even forget about it after a good night’s sleep. So the blond settled down to do just that, though he couldn‘t dismiss the phantom pressure on his lips.

Katsuya Jounouchi did not sleep well that night.

----------

[1] - One of the Ninety-Nine - According to someone on ygo_yaoi, when Yami no Bakura was living in a city of thieves as a kid in Egypt, the Pharaoh's army ran through the city and killed everyone except for Bakura, picked up the corpses, and defiled an old seal by extracting the seven Millennium Items from it and using the 99 corpses (that's why Bakura's alive, he's number 100) to "create"/imbue the items. I’m just using author’s license to make one of those ninety-nine a mage of sorts. It’s better than just making up a creator for the spell.

I realize that there isn’t much in this chapter, and I’m sorry. I hope to have the next one out soon, and it will deal with the repercussions of this spell-gone-wrong. And yes, it has gone wrong, in more ways that one.

And with that little tidbit to tickle your mind--

See you in the next chapter! And don't forget to review!
Nozomi

PS. I might come back and edit a few things in this chapter later on, making it longer and such, so keep checking back!